Leadership Conference, Day 2 & 3

Full.

That’s the simplest word I can use to describe my brain and heart after day 2. The day consisted of 5 hour+ long breakout sessions, along with a worship service, and many wonderful conversations with various people from across the country. This update is going to be more bullet-point style, and if you’d like to chat more about anything you read—reach out to me anytime! - Pastor Nathan

COMMUNITY & LONELINESS

Luke Thompson | Pastor, St. Paul, Ottawa, Ontario

“I’m here to convince you that loneliness is the biggest problem in your church today.” And in the world, too—it is. Did you know that?

Jesus had a reputation for becoming friends with the wrong type of people (see Luke 19, Mark 2:15, Matthew 9:11, and Luke 7:34, just for a few examples). He treated them like family.

Exercise: Make a list of what family has done for you. Then ask yourself, “When is the next time I can/will do one of these things for someone in my church I’m not related to?”

(Here’s a sampling: get taken out for lunch, have over for dinner in your home, invited for a holiday, go out for coffee, sports, a hike, help you change your oil, babysit your kids (or ask you to babysit them), receive Christmas or birthday presents, help move, help fix something in my home.

Being family to someone is a wonderful thing.

Connecting to Your Community: The Importance of Reputation and Contextualization

Jonathan Bourman | Pastor, Peace, Aiken, SC

There’s nothing that pauses/stops the ministry of a church more than knowing your sin and your guilt (including “conference guilt” when you learn and hear so many wonderful things, worry about how you/your church isn’t doing those things, and it kills you). They cause spiritual paralysis. Stop us in our tracks. And nothing frees us to action more than the gospel. The fact that God smiles on us not because of our works, but simply because of his great love, which caused him to forgive our sins.

So, as someone whom God says is holy, be free to be in your community.

What makes my community different and special?

How can I be connected to my community (especially the people in it)?

How has the Holy Spirit knit our church together to be a blessing to our community? What will we be known for?

I could say so much more about both presentations above, but I’ll just say they were incredibly peace-giving, invigorating, and inspiring all at the same time. In addition to the above, I learned about the concept of expectations within churches, small group Bible studies, and the partnership between churches and homes in raising children to live in Jesus’ love.

On Day 3, the highlight was what has been dubbed, “The absolute best talk, sermon, speech, presentation, you name it, I’ve ever heard in my life” by Pastor David Rosenau from Leesburg, FL. (A standing ovation ensued. Laughter, tears, and everything in between were widespread). The time is now to be relentless with the gospel. Take it to people, over and over again!

And now, I’m coming home to South Carolina to share Jesus with you more. See you soon! - Pastor Nathan